Agricultural City Research Articles

THE EXPIRIENCE OF RESEACH OF URBAN RESERVES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF URBAN AGRICULTURE IN MODERN MEGASITIES

The article is devoted to solving problems associated with the use of town-planning reserves in the largest cities for urban food production technologies. One of the forms of urban reserves is the use of roofi ng resources. In roof construction, modular, quickly erected structures can be used. Such greenhouse energy-effi cient construction projects can be located on the roofs of buildings of various functional purposes - shopping centers, shops, garages and other public and communal facilities. In the structure of the largest city, such greenhouse complexes can be located both in peripheral areas and in the middle zone. In some cases, greenhouse complexes on hydroponics can be elements of more complex cluster formations such as research bio-eco-agro centers, agricultural parks, and other innovative urban complexes. Such objects function not only as agricultural production, but also as integrated scientifi c and experimental, educational, leisure and educational complexes. The article describes in more detail the experience of placing urban farms and greenhouses in the USA, using the examples of the largest megacities. At the same time, such city farms are becoming places of labor for some sections of the townspeople, solving an important social problem. The article raises the problems of the formation of modern innovative agriculture in cities, thanks to which residents of megacities can be employed and constantly provided with fresh food. In the conditions of the modern world, this is becoming more and more relevant, since a healthy lifestyle and nutrition is gaining popularity, including in the southern regions of Northern Kazakhstan, Russia

Creating the Urban Farmer's Almanac with Citizen Science Data.

Agriculture has long been a part of the urban landscape, from gardens to small scale farms. In recent decades, interest in producing food in cities has grown dramatically, with an estimated 30% of the global urban population engaged in some form of food production. Identifying and managing the insect biodiversity found on city farms is a complex task often requiring years of study and specialization, especially in urban landscapes which have a complicated tapestry of fragmentation, diversity, pollution, and introduced species. Supporting urban growers with relevant data informs insect management decision-making for both growers and their neighbors, yet this information can be difficult to come by. In this study, we introduced several web-based citizen science programs that can connect growers with useful data products and people to help with the who, what, where, and when of urban insects. Combining the power of citizen science volunteers with the efforts of urban farmers can result in a clearer picture of the diversity and ecosystem services in play, limited insecticide use, and enhanced non-chemical alternatives. Connecting urban farming practices with citizen science programs also demonstrates the ecosystem value of urban agriculture and engages more citizens with the topics of food production, security, and justice in their communities.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in fresh snow in the city of Harbin in northeast China

Characterizing levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in snow and their toxicity is important for understanding snow scavenging of PAHs and associated human health and environmental risks in cold regions. A total of 48 fresh snow samples were collected from six precipitation events during the winter of 2014–2015 at eight (5 urban, 2 suburban and 1 rural) sites across the heavily industrialized and agricultural city of Harbin in northeast China, and were analyzed for the USEPA priority 16 PAHs. Concentrations of the sum of the 16 PAHs from individual snow samples ranged from 0.3 to 2549.6 μg L−1 or nearly four orders of magnitude. The arithmetic mean concentration (±standard deviation) of the 48 samples was 218.1 ± 623.7 μg L−1, and the median value was 10.7 μg L−1. The most abundant PAHs averaged from all the samples were Pyrene (17.1%), followed by Phenanthrene (14.9%), Naphthalene (14.4%), and Fluoranthene (10.2%). The important carcinogenic ∑7PAHs accounted for 58.4% of the total PAHs at locations directly impacted by road traffic. Source apportionment analysis using diagnostic ratios coupled with principal component analysis (PCA) indicated that coal and biomass combustion and vehicle exhausts are the major sources of PAHs in winter. Concentrations of PAHs in snow were significantly correlated with measured levels of PAHs in airborne particulate matter (PM2.5 (R = 0.857, p < 0.05); PM10 (R = 0.831, p < 0.05)), as well as with ambient temperature (R = −0.851, p < 0.05). Almost all (99%) of PAHs measured in the snow were present in particulate phase. The practice of clearing snow by removing it from urban areas and disposing it in suburban and rural areas may create a new pathway of exposure, which needs to be assessed further.

Refugee Migration Histories in a Meatpacking Town: Blurring the Line Between Primary and Secondary Migration

There is substantial movement of US refugee populations originating from Africa, Asia, and other parts of the world across all parts of the country, beyond large metropolitan areas and traditional immigration hubs. Counter to expectations that refugees would remain in a given resettlement location for a period of integration and support, many non-resettlement communities have attracted newcomer refugees. The dynamics of early movement of refugees blurs the line between initial resettlement and secondary migration. To study the timing and motivations for refugee secondary migration, we conducted structured quantitative interviews with 92 refugees in Greeley, Colorado. Like many other small agricultural cities across the USA (Marston et al. International Journal of Migration and Residential Mobility, 1(3), 253–268, 2016; Broadway Rural Sociology, 72(4), 560–582, 2007), Greeley has experienced an influx of refugees due to a shift in the meatpacking labor market from immigrant to refugee labor. This study adds to prior research documenting refugee secondary migration (e.g., Marks 2014; Hume and Hardwick Geographical Review, 95(2), 189–209, 2005; Weine et al. Family Process, 50(1), 27–46, 2011) with a larger study sample focused on gathering uniform accounts of refugee migration histories. Our data show that many refugees arrived in Greeley very soon after initial resettlement. Employment and social networks were a draw for most interviewees to move to Greeley; however, many who came for work had not yet found employment or were unemployed after leaving jobs at the meatpacking plant. These and other findings suggest the importance of research on refugee mobility. In an ever-globalizing world, the blurred line between primary and secondary migration necessitates preparation among American communities to maximize refugee integration.

Characteristics and Challenges for the Development of Nature-Based Adult Day Services in Urban Areas for People with Dementia and Their Family Caregivers.

Nature-based adult day services (ADSs) for people with dementia (PwD) are well-known in rural areas. In recent years, a number of providers have started offering these services in urban contexts, e.g., in city farms and community gardens, where people with dementia participate in outdoor activities, such as gardening and caring for animals. At the moment, little is known about these services within an urban context, and the aim of this study is to characterize different types of nature-based ADSs in urban areas for PwD living at home, as well as to identify general and specific challenges with regard to the development of different types of ADSs. An inventory was carried out and 17 ADS providers in urban areas were interviewed about their initiatives, settings, client groups, motivations for starting their nature-based ADS, and their experiences with, competences for, and funding of urban nature-based ADS. The interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and thematically analyzed. Five types of nature-based ADSs were identified: (1) services offered by social entrepreneurs, (2) nursing homes opening their garden to people with dementia, (3) social care organization setting up nature-based, (4) community garden set up by citizens, and (5) hybrid initiatives. Common activities were gardening, preparing meals, and taking care of farm animals. The main activities organized by nursing homes included sitting and walking in the garden and attending presentations and excursions. General challenges included the availability of green urban spaces and acquiring funding for the nature-based services. Initiatives of social entrepreneurs depended strongly on their commitment. Challenges for nursing homes included a lack of commitment among nursing staff, involvement of PwD living at home and a lack of interaction with the neighborhood. Volunteers played a key role in the initiatives organized by social care organizations and in community gardens. However, it was a major challenge to find volunteers who know enough about care and gardening. Specific challenges for the hybrid types were related to differences in work culture between social entrepreneurs and care organizations. Different types of care-oriented and community-oriented nature-based adult day services in urban areas for people with dementia have been developed, facing different types of challenges. Care oriented initiatives like nursing homes opening their garden focus on risk prevention and their nature-based services tended to be less diverse and stimulating for people with dementia living at home. Collaboration between such care-oriented initiatives with initiatives of other types of organizations or social entrepreneurs can lead to more appealing community-oriented nature-based services.

Changing phosphorus metabolism of a global aquaculture city

The anthropogenic phosphorus scarcity and phosphorus-induced pollution call for a substantial improvement of phosphorus use efficiency (PUE). Using substance flow analysis, phosphorus flow charts for an agriculture city with fast growing aquaculture, i.e. Zhangzhou in China for the period 1995–2014, were drawn to present phosphorus flow distribution through its food system and identify where PUE can be improved substantially. The results showed that the phosphorus input amount of the system increased 1.73 times, to 7.67 × 104 t P in 2014 since 1995, mainly attributed to the change of agricultural production structure, characterized as the rapidly expanding aquaculture. There was 325% (2.54 × 104 t P) increase of annual phosphorus input to aquaculture, compared with 20% (0.64 × 104 t P) increase for crop farming and 15% (679 t P) for feeding livestock. Accordingly, the amount of annual net phosphorus loss from aquaculture also increased much more than that from other subsystems. Thus, improving PUE in the aquaculture is more urgent than that in others. As for the food consumption subsystems, compared with rural residents, annual food phosphorus consumption of urban residents significantly increased (236%, 559 t P yr−1), resulting in rapid increase of its net environmental phosphorus load. Therefore, urbanization could be another driver on regional phosphorus loss by enhancing regional per capita food phosphorus footprint. However, most of the loss occurred during food production rather than food consumption, although the production loss was mainly driven by the change of food consumption amount and patterns. Reducing and recycling phosphorus loss in production is therefore much more important than recovering phosphorus from food consumption stage. Thus, improving PUE in an agricultural area should rely on optimizing and upgrading production structure and enhancing regional internal recycling/reusing of phosphorus.

Wassail! Reinventing ‘tradition’ in contemporary wassailing customs in southern England

On a bleak winter’s Saturday evening, I find myself along with many others in the middle of a suburban park located in a small town in North Somerset, singing, shouting and toasting to an apple tree, otherwise known as ‘wassailing’. The practice of wassailing the orchards has become increasingly popular since the early 2000s with the custom being performed in community orchards, city farms and public gardens across the United Kingdom and beyond every January. Yet, this tradition which emerges in rural villages to protect the valuable crop of the fruit-producing regions is now practised in built-up areas, often with little or no history of fruit farming. Through in-depth interviews with organisers of local wassails, this research explores how the historic customs of orchard wassailing have been translated into contemporary set of practices that responds to the needs of the organisers and the interests and attitudes of the participating audiences. Events in this research critically engaged with and drew upon historic traditions of wassailing, modifying certain elements due to contemporary regulations or attitudes towards gender and identity. I argue that despite this critical reflection, the notion of ‘tradition’ was mobilised to authenticate and reassert the local identity of the event, even in cases where the wassail was recently ‘reinvented’. The article contributes to the theoretical discussion of ‘tradition’ as a symbolically static reassertion of identity while simultaneously fluid and responsive to the social values of the time. Empirically, the article responds to a lack of coverage in academic literature of this custom, contributing an account of how the wassailing ‘tradition’ is reinvented for a contemporary audience.

PARAMETER OPTIMIZATION OF SINGLE EXPONENTIAL SMOOTHING USING GOLDEN SECTION METHOD FOR GROCERIES FORECASTING

Department of Agriculture and Food Security Malang City, especially in the Field of Food Supply Availability and Distribution requires a reference forecasting of food prices in Malang. The method used in the forecasting calculation is Single Exponential Smoothing. In the process of calculating the Single Exponential Smoothing method, it takes alpha parameters between 0 and 1. The problem is when to estimate the alpha value between 0 to 1 with trial error with the aim of producing minimal forecasting results. Therefore, this study aims to determine the optimal alpha value. The method used in this research is the Golden Section Method. The principle of Golden Section method in this study is to reduce the boundary area so as to produce a minimum MAPE (Mean Absolute Percentage Error) value The data used in this study is the price of 9 commodities of Groceries in Malang since January 1, 2016 until December 31, 2017. The results showed that the Golden Section method found that the optimal alpha value was 0.999 with MAPE average of 9 commodities is 0.79%. So with this golden section method researchers do not need a long time to determine alpha by trial error

PARAMETER OPTIMIZATION OF SINGLE EXPONENTIAL SMOOTHING USING GOLDEN SECTION METHOD FOR GROCERIES FORECASTING

Department of Agriculture and Food Security Malang City, especially in the Field of Food Supply Availability and Distribution requires a reference forecasting of food prices in Malang. The method used in the forecasting calculation is Single Exponential Smoothing. In the process of calculating the Single Exponential Smoothing method, it takes alpha parameters between 0 and 1. The problem is when to estimate the alpha value between 0 to 1 with trial error with the aim of producing minimal forecasting results. Therefore, this study aims to determine the optimal alpha value. The method used in this research is the Golden Section Method. The principle of Golden Section method in this study is to reduce the boundary area so as to produce a minimum MAPE (Mean Absolute Percentage Error) value The data used in this study is the price of 9 commodities of Groceries in Malang since January 1, 2016 until December 31, 2017. The results showed that the Golden Section method found that the optimal alpha value was 0.999 with MAPE average of 9 commodities is 0.79%. So with this golden section method researchers do not need a long time to determine alpha by trial error

Development and Strategic Choice of Modern Agricultural Industry in Dazhou City based on SWOT Analysis

The development of modern agriculture in Dazhou City has both advantages and disadvantages, opportunities and challenges. By using SWOT analysis method, this paper analyzes the internal and external conditions faced by the development of modern agriculture in Dazhou City, and puts forward the rational strategic choice, which provides a reference for realizing the transformation from a big agricultural city to a strong agricultural city in Dazhou City.

How Work Counts: Time, Self-Employment, and Wagelessness in Rural Brazil

How do self-employed people count the time that they spend working? I consider this question, in the context of contemporary Northeastern Brazil, by returning to the classic anthropological problem of peasant time accounting. In the drylands of Bahia, smallholding farmers today tend to support themselves through cyclical labor migration between countryside and city. I focus on two sites of self-employment along this circuit: marketplace hawking in the city and peasant farming in the countryside. Contrary to earlier literature, I find that small farmers do indeed measure their work time in money terms. They do this even when they are working for themselves—even when no money actually changes hands. It is as if they count out a phantom wage. Strikingly, Bahians are much less likely to account their time as money when they work in the urban marketplace. Nonetheless, an important parallel connects the small farmer and the marketplace vendor. Although they use divergent techniques to measure their work time, both the vendors and the farmers draw a line to separate time that is counted from time that remains uncounted. To maintain this distinction—between the counted and the uncounted—is a core dilemma of the self-employee. I argue that the distinction operates so as to render time homogeneous—in other words, substantial, self-identical, and sequential. At the point where farmers and vendors watch their time turn homogenous, it becomes possible to understand self-employment as a class relationship. Class comes into focus as a kind of relation to time.

Difference Analysis of Ecological Security Assessment Based on FAHP

In this study, the important city of Guanzhong Plain-Weinan, was studied and its ecological security index changed from the year of 2000 to 2012. The stress-state-response (PSR) model was used to establish an ecological security assessment system based on agricultural development cities. The method of quantitative research including 12 indicators based on the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) model was constructed, and the main aspects such as the natural environment, economic society, and human activities were designed. The results showed that from 2000 to 2012, the area of ecological security and stability is gradually increasing, and the stability of the ecological environment is enhanced. The ecological security level in the central region of the country has developed well in the past 10 years, but the ecological security level in some areas has gradually increased in edge area.

Research on the Status Quo and Countermeasures of Modern Agriculture Development in Dazhou City

Developing modern agriculture, promoting the transformation and upgrading of agriculture, and improving the comprehensive benefits of agriculture are important targets for winning the fight against poverty and the inherent requirements and key links for implementing the rural revitalization strategy. As a large agricultural city in northeastern Sichuan, Dazhou City is facing a crucial period of transition from traditional agriculture to modern agriculture. This paper mainly analyzes the status quo of modern agriculture development in Dazhou and the main constraints it faces, and puts forward reasonable suggestions to provide reference for modern agricultural development in Dazhou.

Contamination characteristics and potential environmental implications of heavy metals in road dusts in typical industrial and agricultural cities, southeastern Hubei Province, Central China

In November 2013, the total concentration of selected heavy metals in 43 urban dust samples, collected from two small-sized cities of industrial E'zhou and agricultural Huanggang, located in the southeastern Hubei province, central China, was detected quantitatively by flame atomic absorption spectrometric (FAAS) for ultimate purpose of pollution monitoring and risk evaluation. Results indicated that the mean concentrations exceeding their respective background values were observed for all the investigated metals, with the exception of Co (13.08mg kg-1) and Fe (38635.02mg kg-1)in Huanggang road dusts, whose average concentrations were close to the background levels. In comparison with the reference data reported from the selected cities worldwide, the urban road dusts were seriously polluted by heavy metals to diverse degrees. The contour distribution maps implied that obviously higher values zones were found between two different types of urban areas, located to both sides of the coastline of Yangtze River. Multivariate statistical analysis revealed that the enriched heavy metals had emanated from the combined effects of both natural sources and anthropogenic sources. Three pollution indices indicated that the riskiest element mainly comprising Cr, Ni, Cu, and Pb appeared to be the major contributors to the urban environmental pollution. Avoiding continuous damage requires, the riskiest metallic contaminants should be paid preferential attention to.

Quantitative analysis of climate change impact on Zhangye City’s economy based on the perspective of surface runoff

Zhangye City is a representative agricultural city in China where agriculture depends heavily on precipitation in the Heihe River Basin; water use for agriculture plays a key role in the sustainable development of total water resources. This study, based on the predicted surface runoff by GCM, uses a CGE model with a water-land resources account, to analyze the impact of climate change on Zhangye City’s economy and agricultural water consumption. The results show that climate change increases surface runoff by 8.84%. The increasing surface runoff contributes most to the total water consumption, increasing by 8.11% accompanied by a small GDP expansion of 0.12%. Relative to the industrial structure, agricultural sectors benefit most. Contrarily, export-oriented industrial sectors see a decrease in benefit, resulting in employment migrating to lower value-added agricultural sectors. From the water types, the consumption for underground and other water also rise by 6.69% and 5.73% respectively, due to the economic scale expansion effect of the agricultural sectors. For varieties of crops, grain crops consume more water because of its greater water intensity. And the land is mostly transferred from economic crops to grain crops. Therefore, the government should pay attention to changes in the consumption propensity of water resources, continue to promote agricultural water-saving measures and the adjustment of agricultural planting structure.

Testing the AC/DC hypothesis: Rock and roll is noise pollution and weakens a trophic cascade.

Anthropogenic sound is increasingly considered a major environmental issue, but its effects are relatively unstudied. Organisms may be directly affected by anthropogenic sound in many ways, including interference with their ability to detect mates, predators, or food, and disturbances that directly affect one organism may in turn have indirect effects on others. Thus, to fully appreciate the net effect of anthropogenic sound, it may be important to consider both direct and indirect effects. We report here on a series of experiments to test the hypothesis that anthropogenic sound can generate cascading indirect effects within a community. We used a study system of lady beetles, soybean aphids, and soybean plants, which are a useful model for studying the direct and indirect effects of global change on food webs. For sound treatments, we used several types of music, as well as a mix of urban sounds (e.g., sirens, vehicles, and construction equipment), each at volumes comparable to a busy city street or farm tractor. In 18‐hr feeding trials, rock music and urban sounds caused lady beetles to consume fewer aphids, but other types of music had no effect even at the same volume. We then tested the effect of rock music on the strength of trophic cascades in a 2‐week experiment in plant growth chambers. When exposed to music by AC/DC, who articulated the null hypothesis that “rock and roll ain't noise pollution” in a song of the same name, lady beetles were less effective predators, resulting in higher aphid density and reduced final plant biomass relative to control (no music) treatments. While it is unclear what characteristics of sound generate these effects, our results reject the AC/DC hypothesis and demonstrate that altered interspecific interactions can transmit the indirect effects of anthropogenic noise through a community.

Kırsal Kimlikli Medeniyetler Beşiğinden Değer Temelli Kentleşme Açılımlarına: Bursa-İznik Kentsel Tasarım Stüdyosu Dersi

This study was carried out in order to evaluate the findings of the studio "Studio upm+T: urban/public/mixed use + Transformation" which was carried out by the author in autumn and spring semesters of 2016-2017, together with the participants in the attached file and the contributors in the process of Kocaeli University Faculty of Architecture and Design. The aim of this study is to develop urban design and transformation projects with the aim of bringing high public values in the middle and long term to the city by considering urban design Bursa-İznik City as a workshop. The focus of the workshop is on identifying, evaluating, analyzing, synthesizing, developing the theme and developing the "Public Space" and "Common Area" and adding "Value" to the Iznik City Image. The examination of the workshop was coordinated among topics: " a. cultural and historical basis, b-natural and environmental resources, environmental planning and design, c- social and economic formation and dynamics, and d-spatial structure: settlement texture and settlement plan. Throughout the İznik Urban Design Workshop, 5 sociospatial concepts that feed the whole process were handled and it was aimed to feed the development and urban development opportunities that stand out for İznik. These concepts have been evaluated as "use value, change value, design value, memory-space and contrast-harmony. Furthermore, the approaches to be followed in order to get acquainted with new identities and to pass the visions to the practice have been determined by giving the 3 cities and regional vision "agriculture city, tourism city and culture city" concept. The gola of the paper is to portray a set of urban design schemes, which aimed to develop spatial contexts that will positively serve and contribute to the quality of life of the city within the practice of urban design known as a common professional practice area of Urban and Regional Planning, Architecture and Landscape Architecture.

Occupational health and safety characteristics of agricultural workers in Adana, Turkey: a cross-sectional study.

BackgroundAmong agricultural workers, especially in the seasonal migratory ones, housing and hygiene related issues, occupational accidents, low levels of education, poverty and absence of social security problems emerge as significant public health problems. This study aims to compare migrant-seasonal workers (MSWs) and resident agricultural workers (RAWs) in terms of socio-demographic characteristics and occupational health and safety in Adana, one of Turkey’s most important agricultural cities.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted on RAWs and MSWs, aged 15–65, operating in the province of Adana. The calculated sample sizes for both MSWs and RAWs were distributed using stratified simple random sampling to five districts of Adana.ResultsThe mean age of the 798 participating agricultural workers was 34.6 ± 14.2. Of the RAWs, 78.8% and of the MSWs 57.0% were male; 5.8% of RAWs and 32.8% of MSWs were illiterate. The mean number of people in the households of the participating workers was 5.1 for RAWs and 6.6 for MSWs. Of the RAWs, 20.5% were not covered by any social security scheme while this percentage was 35.1% in MSWs. RAWs worked 9.9 h a day while MSWs worked 10.9 h a day. Of the agricultural workers, 12.9% had injuries caused by occupational accidents.DiscussionAgricultural workers, who are a large part of Turkey’s economically active population, do not have healthy and safe working conditions. New regulations in the fields of social security, record keeping, monitoring, supervision, education and occupational health have been implemented recently to solve these problems. Despite the recent improvements there are still some problematic issues in the auditing of the necessary practices.

Weed Flora of Fayoum (Egypt), One of the Oldest Agricultural Regions in the World

ABSTRACT: Fayoum region is the most fertile agricultural land in Egypt and one of the oldest agricultural city in the world. The present study aimed to determine its weed flora composition and its distribution through different habitats. Results recorded 175 species of vascular plants belonging to 124 genera and 35 families distributed in eight habitats. The richest families were Poaceae, Asteraceae (Compositae) and Fabaceae (Leguminoseae), while genera with the highest number of species were Euphorbia, Amaranthus and Cyperus. Cynodon dactylon and Alhagi graecorum were the present species, recorded at all habitats. Old cultivated lands recorded the highest species number followed by orchard habitats, on the contrast road side and wasteland habitats recorded the lowest species numbers. Therophytes were the dominant life form, while Phanerophytes were the smallest group in this study, 5%. The highest Jaccard similarity index was recorded between healthy land and orchard habitats, which supported also by ward classification.

Long-term (2005-2015) trend analysis of PM2.5 precursor gas NO2 and SO2 concentrations in Taiwan.

Ground air monitoring stations have been installed in Taiwan since 1993 to ensure whether the criteria air pollutants meet the ambient air quality standards. In the present study, the data from the monitoring stations were used to evaluate long-term (2005-2015) trend of NO2 and SO2 in three metropolitan cities (northern Taipei, central Taichung, and southern Kaohsiung), two eastern coastal cities (Hualien and Taitung), and one agricultural city in west-central plain (Douliu); those cities essentially covered the entire region of Taiwan. The results indicate that SO2 and NO2 concentrations of all studied six cities meet the annual average standards of 30 and 50ppb, respectively. After deseasonalizing the original data and using 7-month moving average, the trend analysis reveals a decreasing trend ranging from 0.15 to 0.57ppb/year (R2 from 0.33 to 0.85) for NO2 and 0.06 to 0.45ppb/year (R2 from 0.32 to 0.92) for SO2; the corresponding reductions over the 10-year span are 4 to 42% for NO2 and 22 to 52% for SO2. The reduction trend, despite the growth in GDP, vehicle numbers and energy consumption, industrial output, etc., is similar to those of developed countries. Clearly, there are seasonal/monthly variation patterns for these two precursor gases with minimum levels in summer (July) and maximum in winter (December). The concentration reductions, however, were lagging behind the respective emission reductions. There are significant correlations among six cites for NO2 (r = 0.58-0.93) and, to some extent, SO2 (0.32-0.66). The correlation between SO2 and NO2 (r = 0.46-0.74) indicates same or similar emission sources. Furthermore, the correlation between observed pollutant concentrations and their emission is excellent for SO2 in two cities (0.79-0.96). The SO2/NO2 ratios vary with city and time and the value is site specific. For example, in 2005, the SO2/NO2 ratio was 0.38 in Kaohsiung and 0.18 in both Taipei and Taichung, the latter reflecting significant contribution from mobile sources. However, they all converged to 0.18-0.28 in 2015 in the six cities evaluated. All in all, the policies/measures made by the central and local government are effective in reducing ambient SO2 and NO2 levels.